Matsuyama retains three-shot lead in Shanghai

SHANGHAI — Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama turned in his first flawless round of the WGC-HSBC Champions Saturday to head into the final day’s play with a three-shot lead over reigning champion Russell Knox. Starting the day with a three-stroke cushion after 19 birdies over the first two rounds, Matsuyama was again in impeccable form at the Sheshan International Golf Club, carding a four-under-par 68 to end the day 17-under for the tournament. The 24-year-old picked up just one shot in his first eight holes but birdies at the ninth, the par-five 14th and the last kept him ahead of the chasing pack at the $9.5 million event. Knox, who won on debut last year, also carded 68, with American Daniel Berger a shot behind him in third place on 13-under after mixing eight birdies and three bogeys in his 67. Italy’s Francesco Molinari, who won at Sheshan in 2010, started with three birdies in a row and finished with a 68 to tie for fourth place with American Bill Haas (70), five shots off the pace. Haas put pressure on the leader with three birdies over his first six holes to cut Matsuyama’s lead to a single shot but dropped a shot before and after the turn and picked up just one more birdie over the back nine. World No. 3 Rory McIlroy also started strongly with birdies on the second, sixth and eighth holes but lost ground with three bogeys on the back nine to end up with a 70. The Northern Irishman has a share of eighth place on nine-under with five others, including British Open champion Henrik Stenson (67) and American Matt Kuchar, whose 68 included a hole-in-one on the shortened par-three 17th. Feng leads Sime Darby Shanshan Feng birdied four of her final six holes after a long lightning delay Saturday to top the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia leaderboard when darkness suspended play. The 27-year-old Chinese player had a one-stroke lead over fellow major champion Anna Nordqvist of Sweden. Feng was 7-under for the day and 13 under overall on the 18th tee when third-round play was stopped at TPC Kuala Lumpur. Nordqvist was on the par-5 16th. Play was delayed for 4 hours, 39 minutes by the lightning and periods of heavy rain, leaving only 90 minutes of light left when the action resumed. Feng bogeyed the par-4 11th before the delay, then reeled off birdies on par-5 12th, par-4 14th, par-3 15th and par-5 16th. She made a 20-foot eagle putt on the par-5 sixth in a front-nine 31. Nordqvist has six LPGA Tour victories, successfully defending her ShopRite LPGA Classic title in June in New Jersey. Murray two ahead in Jackson Former world junior champion Grayson Murray made a tap-in birdie at the final hole to earn a two-shot lead after the second round of the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi Friday. Murray, a 23-year-old from North Carolina in just his second start as a PGA Tour member, notched eight birdies in a seven-under-par 65 at the Country Club of Jackson. He posted a 12-under 132 halfway total, with Englishman Greg Owen (67) and Irishman Seamus Power (69) equal second on 10-under in the low-key PGA Tour event. Journeyman Owen, meanwhile, stayed in the hunt to break his lengthy title drought. Owen, 44, is winless in 249 starts on the PGA Tour and perhaps best known for his late meltdown at the 2006 Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he three-putted from three feet at the penultimate hole when he had victory in his grasp. Former world No. 1 David Duval was among those who missed the cut. — Agencies